christmas shopping

Went Christmas shopping after church today in Takashimaya. Met Timothy and met Emily. Timothy dunno how come he was in Orchard and he called me when I happened to be around the same area. Either coincidence or something I don't know. So we met and I did him some favour. I met Emily in the department store but I swear she never even noticed me even though she was looking around my direction until I tapped her. lol, what's wrong with her?

Christmas shopping was not good because of the big big big crowd throughout Takashimaya. I was carrying some big bags of things and people just keep on coming and I found it hard to move about. If not for the big crowd everywhere, shopping would have been more enjoyable.

The next post will probably be on something on Vietnam. Perhaps I shall talk about the home visit, the orphanage and the visit to Dang Tham Mai Secondary School. Stay tuned.

the last christmas band practice

It was bad... at least for me. Every one of the conductors had to pick on me! Mr Tan, Ms Tan and Mr Wong. Damn retarded. So I walked out. And so my msn nick reads "ian felt that he was hated by all the conductors and so he left band practice early to prevent further upset".

So you think I'm so easily pissed off? Well, this is only half true. I left early to attend my neighbour's wedding (Huan Xin got married). The ceremony started at 6pm and dinner was at 8pm. So draggy... that's why I wouldn't like to attend weddings of people I don't really know.

I shall go back to the picking on me crap. Dr Lee didn't pick on me today, which is good. But on the previous day, he had to over tuning in the last part of Les Miserables and the starting of the first note of the "let us hear the people sing" part of the piece. Stupid lah. My B-flat clarinet playing has turned damn loud and tone improved a lot after changing to using the 56 rue lepic reeds that I bought. Every time I play loud sure damn loud. And my fortissimo can overpower everyone. Since the resistance is quite high, it is also quite hard to control the clarinet to play soft now. This is probably the reason why Dr Lee keeps picking on me when I play the B-flat clarinet. For my E-flat clarinet playing, Dr Lee is always full of things to say. He keep praising me for my ability to play damn loud in Armenian Dances and running notes in Charming Asia. Which is good haha. All I got to say that the E-flat clarinet is damn easy to play damn loud and overpower almost the whole band.

So second came Ms Tan. She was ok, with a little bit of picking on me. But I can't remember haha. So I shall skip this part.

Mr Wong started the main part of the picking on me for today. In particular, the first note of Christmas Festival. First, he said that I was playing the wrong note on the first note. Then he said that he did not have my E-flat Clarinet part on his score and he came over to my stand and looked at my score. He saw the high D and asked me use the tuner to tune my D. I tell you, it was perfectly alright since it was at the green light. Since the key was transposed on mine to B-flat major, D should be flat but that doesn't matter because I was pressing the right key anyway. Anyway, when he heard the high woodwinds every time on the first bar, he acted damn weird and asked the band repeat again and again. But somehow, he did say most of his comments on this in my direction although I was certain it was me as I was playing the D (or concert F). Furthermore, the starting section he commented so much on the loudness and roughness of the woodwinds leading the melody. I dunno whether it was me because I was only clarinet playing the actual melody. Crap lah, feel damn bad. He probably said more things than this.

When it was Mr Tan, the worst came to worst. First, he said that my tuning was sharp. I accepted that comment anyway. Later on, in Sleigh Ride, in the swing part, he told me that my rhythm was wrong and then asked me to practise solo in front of the band while he conducted me. By this time, I was laughing inside, cos I was unlucky to get picked on by all the conductors to play some notes in front of the band. I didn't like it.

So this ends my unlucky band day and I left early to put my instruments in the viewing gallery and left the college.

So as I reached the Holland Village bus stop, I spotted the 48 bus at the opposite side. So I ran out of the 74 bus I was in and dashed across the road and chased the 48 bus. As I was about to reach the bus stop, the bus started moving. I ran on while the bus was still moving - it just didn't want to stop for me. I ran till half-way between the previous bus stop and the next bus stop and stopped running because the bus was moving quite slow until then. Stupid bus driver, more blind than a bat. So I walked over to the next bus stop and waited damn long for the next 48 bus.

DAMN SUAY TODAY. But so happening.

even more of vietnam

Photographs of Jia Jun in the Vietnam OCIP trip makes me laugh so hard that my tummy hurts. Somewhat like the first 2 lines of Photograph by Nickelback. He is so lame and retarded to purposely look like a retard or look away from the camera and smile at other things when everyone is facing the camera. Please refrain from NPNT unless you don't have facebook to search for Loke Jia Yi's Vietnam photo album or Tessa Goh's albums.

Tell you something interesting: There is no minimum age for drinking or smoking in Vietnam. Which meant, drinking in Vietnam was legal! Yay! Anyway sorry, I don't smoke, too smelly or a waste of money if you smoke. I still got a life worth living. If this was the case, we surely had to drink in Vietnam.

So Zaneth was looking at some liqeour in the supermarket to bring home, and I joined him. The vodka over there was damn cheap. Vietnam made ones cost 42500 Dong and the one I bought was about 100000 Dong. It was some German vodka called Caprice and it was mixed with kiwi, so it looked green. It was a mere 16% alcohol content. So Zaneth and I bought the same thing. I invited some people to drink that bottle I bought that night (the last night).

Drinking together in the room was great but the drink sucked because the vodka wasn't that good. I kept eating oranges because I didn't want to get a hangover. Zaneth was damn on, Jia jun too. Both of them turned red. I drank 8 shots but didn't turn red. Dunno why. Tessa, Yong Xin and the other girls in the room had some. I could have had more to drink haha. I only experienced partial highness, and my movement a bit slowdown, but other than that, I was quite alright after we finished the bottle. Then, Tessa and Yong Xin thought I was drunk, because I entered the bathroom while offering people to drink more and kept spamming the oranges. Then I went to sleep because they asked me to haha.

Meanwhile, while I was sleeping, I heard that Jia Jun was playing cards, and he kept throwing the cards everywhere. Then, Yong Xin, even though she drank relatively little, she kept mixing up the suits in bridge. I mean like how come they so easily to succumbed to the influence of alcohol?

So that's the end of today's post. I will talk about more random things in Vietnam next and I shall keep jumping about the events that took place. In other words, not in chronological order.

more of vietnam

I'm feeling a bit sick as I'm writing this, but I'll probably go for band.

I proud for my ACJC Band Sec 4 juniors who are coming into the school after the appeals. Congrats to all of you!

I still miss Vietnam. It was so fun. It was probably 10000 times better than JC Band Fest. Since none of you readers experienced it, you never know how much I enjoyed it.

Our group comprises 3 teachers and 19 non-Vietnamese and 4 Vietnamese, of which one of them, Hang, was from SAJC. Before the trip, some of us probably didn't know each other. We stuck to our own cliques or rather, group of familiar friends. After the trip, all of us bonded; we knew each other. I could sense it because I knew the feeling, reminiscent of my Sec 4 class, as if we went through thick and thin together. I can even say that I knew the teachers quite well. 10 days together as a group worked its magic. From mere strangers to a tight group in 10 days. Quite a feat.

Even my class or the current ACJC Band has not managed to do this yet. Perhaps after the very final trip to Switzerland, Vienna and Hong Kong, ACJC Band will bond together as a tight family. Perhaps at the very last part, there is hope.

During the Vietnam trip, I really must applaud and praise the Vietnamese in our group, Hang, Quynh, Phuong and Han, for their translation and help in all things Vietnamese. The teachers must be thanked too, for their behind-the-scenes support and organisation. Everyone did a great job, especially the non-Singaporeans, who took up the main leadership positions and did wonders with their jobs. I'm so happy for everyone, who has at least put in effort to make the trip a success. As for myself, I thought that I tried my best to do a good job with the photography, however, the fate of the photographs remains dubious. I just hope that they come back in one piece.

One thing still bugs me, which is my underutilization during the trip. At the end, I may have been tired, but I still felt that I could do more. Improvements could be made, such as actions to prevent the end-trip reprimanding of the Singaporeans by Mrs Soong. As a point to note, we were just following orders, so the best way is to give more responsibities to us, the Singaporeans.

On a more positive note, many of us never believed that the trip would be a huge success. Many of the ideas we put into use during the workshop were still in their untried and untested status, fresh from the preparation period. New challenges sprung up everywhere and old plans were rendered useless. Impromptu arrangements were what carried our group along. Yet, it was a success. As I was the photographer, I could read from the Vietnameses' facial expressions that they were joyful when the group did it's stuff. From their joy, we obtained fulfilment.

From our fan clubs, we also obtained fulfilment. The more prominent ones were mine and all the guys' except Zaneth, Adeline's, Han's (all the ones I can think of for now). The best fan club is Aditya's, arising from the fact that he is probably the first Indian in Vinh University. People do touch him to see whether he's real. During the powerpoint picture presentation, a picture of him sent the crowd into laughter as they recognised him. He got his hands shaken, e-mail addresses given to him, multiple pictures taken with him and a lot of what you 'd expect from a fan club. Mind you, I wasn't spared from these fan club stuff. I'm probably the only one who saw every of the 6 groups in rotation everyday, unlike the workshop people who saw 2 groups a day and never taught the same group ever again. From this view, I felt so special.

Everyday, I walked along the corridor and from the classrooms, I would see like the whole class who were not involved in the workshops staring at me. On the first day, there was this group of girls on the corridor and I walked past them. They giggled. You get the idea, do you? In a foreign land, you get treated like someone damn special. So weird. Suddenly, from a nobody, everyone turned into somebody, even people get headhunted to specially take photos with a certain group.

When it was time for home visits, the worst came to worst because two boys were fighting over who gets Jia Jun. I kept thinking that Vietnamese guys are gay because they can get very touchy with me but this matter was way blown over the top. Mdm Lim has a video of this intense argument and it's probably in Aditya's computer. Actually, the fact is, I have to think that Vietnamese guys are not gay, otherwise, I have think I'm actually gay because I'm forced to touch them if they touch me, which is so not true. Let's say that they are just hyper-metrosexual, which is a highly evolved form of the metrosexual male type.

If you want to talk about the girls, perhaps guys who are unable to get Singaporean girls can try looking to Vietnam. By looks, most of the girls CMI but there are hot ones out there, like one of them during my home visit (basically, it was a 12A5 class party). I think the girls over there will be less demanding and more caring towards guys haha. They surely know how to cook and the ones from Vinh High School come from good families. Good Vietnamese brides are not in short supply but I won't be looking for one though. :]

That's all for now. I will continue another time.

vietnamese students

Today was the day I finally stayed at home the whole day and I finally completed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in like 60 hours, minus the fishing game and poe soul quest. Yay! So now I can concentrate on SSEF and study for J2.

This is my view on the Vietnamese students in Vinh High School for Gifted Pupils in Mathematics, Physics and Informatics.

They are a friendly bunch. Whenever I entered a classroom to take photographs, a handful of them would say hi. Some of them would stare at me, expressionless, some will swoon in delight and disbelieve as if a normal Singaporean was a superstar. Not to mention that they have a passion for learning and they are extremely enthusiatic, judging from their high noise level in a language that I fail to decipher. When they are split into groups, they compete with one another wholeheartedly, expressing their competitive nature. Their standard of English is poor, but good enough to understand some of everyday speech, thus one would find it difficult to express complex ideas in English to them. Their English vocabulary is in fact quite exceptional for their level, inferring from the play they could play the forming the words from a larger word game or hangman. Never underestimate their ability in the sciences. Tell them something scientific, and they would question your claim. Language is their only barrier to a world of possibilities. Give them something to do, and they would give you more. For instance, tell them to build a bridge with a simple design, and they would construct a bridge which is more than just a bridge - it is their hard work and dedication. Most of them may be poor, but they are satisfied. Whenever you see them, they emanate joy, and you too, will be joyful. Not to mention that most of them are cam whores, bringing their cameras wherever they go and requesting people from our group to take photographs with them. Most of them are not camera-shy, instead they stand as intepid subjects in front of the camera, with a victory sign included. Playing football with them was an forgettable experience. We were pitted against their best, and we lost 4-1 without a tinge of regret. We shook hands and exchanged jerseys. Everyone cheered for each other. When the final day arrived, they gave presents without our request. We hugged and we exchanged e-mail addresses. We gave our school badges and we received their school cloth logo. We gave away our collegiates and they asked us to sign on it. They never fail to surprise us with their hospitality and concern. They are brimming with optimism and hope for a better future. They are indeed the embodiment of passion in the pursuit of perfection.

a summary of the vietnam trip

Today I went to school at 10am and everyone was told to write reflections for the Vietnam OCIP trip. I'd rather blog about it but I was told to write down and not type it, and then give it to Mrs Soong. Not my kind but it was fun to share my views and hear everyone else's view towards the OCIP.

After that, we took 92 bus to somewhere and went to Haato, which is something like Settler's Cafe, for lunch and played Taboo. Jiajun was some pro at Scrabble and helped me when I was at a loss for words. Some people met some unknown people there and everyone stayed till after 4pm, then went home. I took 156 bus with Huimin, and I dropped off at Copthorne Orchid (must remember how to go there next time).

THE END. Boring day. Doing the damn Maths tutorial 21 now.

In any case, I miss Vietnam. Now, life is back to boringness and band and studies and SSEF and crap. I shall talk a bit of Vietnam here.

Anyway, my DSLR photos will be missing over the next ___ days because Aditya ran away back to India with the photos I took during the workshop. The Vietnamese are probably going to harrass me for it. Help me!

Summary

Vietnam: friendly and enthusiatic Vinh students + nice weather + new ACJC friends + new Vietnamese friends + strengthened existing friendships + legally drinking + cards + brilliant place for photography + many life-skills learnt + visit to the SOS orphanage where there are really happy children + very accommodating Dang Thai Mai Secondary School students + cultural exchange concert + mostly nice food + expected quality of accommodation + football with official referees and shirt-exchanging + giving to and receiving gifts from the Vinh students + buying gifts for Christmas + secretly buying fake but real-looking Crumplers at night + Ha Long Bay boat ride + last minute spending of Dong at the airport + attending some communist propaganda youth celebration thingy at Vinh U + other memorable experiences = very unforgettable and memorable trip; once in a lifetime

Yes, I never regretted joining this OCIP and ponning Band Fest. Truly, it has been a great experience that I will never forget.

Over the next few days, I probably go through it in detail. (:

back home

Welcome back to the land of stress and more stress, Ian!

After I arrived in Singapore, I rushed from the airport to Esplanade to attend the JC Band Fest Concert with Irvin and missed the Man Utd vs Liverpool match. (OK, he left early to watch it with his friends haha) Anyway, generally, Honour Band sounded good. To be honest, the two other bands, Holst and Fennell, were generally lacking volume (loudness) and feel/musicality and I thought that Fennell was the better of the two (cos of better ACJC help, I think). Hmm, every band could do with a better tuning of chords. But not bad for a concert that was prepared in 4 days.

Okay, time to start some Vietnam recollections.

If you are a Vietnamese reading this... Xin Chao! Spread this blog to your other friends too. Cam On! Photos will be up in some days' time, so do not fret.

When I was there, I loved my job man, and so I thought I wasn't stressed there. I was the photographer with a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera, which means I looked damn professional. Using the DSLR to take pictures was so awesome that I fell in love with it. But too bad it wasn't mine, but nevermind that - it's the experience that matters.

As the photographer for almost all the important events of the Vietnam Overseas Community Involvement Programme (OCIP), I feel that I have the most comprehesive coverage and knowledge of what goes on everyday. This means that what I whatever that I will blog about will encompass my wide scope of the events.

SPOILER: I now have a fan club in Vietnam.

Okay, I'm going off for now, another day I will start cos it's late and today there's a reflection meeting in school at 10am.

sorry, emo time!

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Vietnam, but I shall write one more post before I leave.

Anyway, I'm especially damn low today, which is the opposite of high. Yeah, you get what I mean. The feeling of sian sian the whole day, feeling depressed for nothing, except that I don't tell people why...

Actually, the reasons are so mixed, I don't know what to say. Some people think I got external H3, research attachment, better grades than others mean I must be damn ownage. I don't know what to say, but I feel like going into hikikomori, if you know what that means. No, I won't be lah... joking only. My life is still worth living, I'm alive and well. Maybe the things I worry about all the time are just an illusion.

So like there's band, which I am damn passionate about but damn demoralised all the time since today. Dr Lee thinks I played a lot of wrong notes today, which is like wtf, since I know that I didn't play so many wrong notes as he said. Then Ms Sng kind of brought the band back to reality, that next year will be damn tough. Then, there's SSEF to finish, which I ever talked about in other posts. There's a whole load of homework and studying for me to do.

Then there's a feeling that I'm being underutilized, kind of underemployed as I know my capabilities are much better than slacking around everyday mindless doing things without a real purpose, feeling so empty and useless. I want to be used! Furthermore, the thing is, almost everyone in my class is some sort of leader in their CCAs. How about me? Who am I? I am a proud member of SMC and Band. Haha, dream on. Damn sad lah. Do you think I'm a happy-go-lucky person now? NO! I've changed! Ever since the day Mr Kayden Lim gave me a talk on getting a damn leadership position because I was denied a scholarship cos of this very reason, this underemployment problem has been recurring. I did say to him that I pretty much wanted that SMC vice-president position, but now I know it's unattainable. If I could now, I would plead with Mrs Soong about getting it. I feel that she would say: "How can you contribute?" I know I can contribute greatly in many things, but I've not been given the chance, or I let my chances fly by. Perhaps I could contribute by initiating change and making existing processes more efficient. Yeah, that's my forte. I know it's difficult being a leader, but looking at myself, I say, why not? I'm passionate, I have fire. My dream: "I want to lead people. I am a visionary. I envisage better days ahead."

God, please answer my prayer, I am Your useless servant, give me something to do. Or perhaps You do have a greater plan for me out there.

Maybe I should withdraw from having mundane worries such as being a leader in some sense. Whatever I do now, may not even affect what happens in my future working life. Let me forget them all and cherish the things I have.

the last one before the TRIP

Note: The large post that I'm currently writing will appear after my trip to Vietnam of OCIP (after 16 December 2007).

Hey, you all won't be seeing me for JC band fest because I'm in Vietnam for OCIP and having fun/self-torture from 7 December 2007 to 16 December 2007. Yeah, I'm leaving this Friday at 2.10pm for Hanoi on a SQ flight. I'm going to Vinh, which is south of Hanoi, for some science exchange programme with Vinh University and teach English at the SOS Orphanage. I'm the photographer btw, dunno why though, but expect me to flood facebook with pictures after the trip.

Anyway, today was a nice day cos I received my external H3 acceptance letter for NTU's Contemporary Physics. Yay! Thank God and must praise Him. Because I thought that I was not going to get it as it was very very late already, but I did get it eventually. The situation was that the General Office sms-ed me a notification but I really did not get it... until today, they called me up, and apparently I was in school for OCIP preparation and I rushed down to get the letter. It sounds amazing because I'm still allowed to sign up and accept the place by tomorrow, 6th December despite the dateline being on 30th November.

After OCIP preparation today, I went to buy 2 sets of school uniform, new shoes for Vietnam trip and collected my funky spectacles. But it's damn retarded cos the idiot shopkeeper at BIbi&BAba packed in the wrong pants and gave me acs(i) bermudas, argh, I had to ask my mum to change for me tomorrow.

My new Adidas shoes I bought from Queensway, and the shopkeeper actually discounted the shoes from $111 to $78. Huat ah! Cheap already! Woo hoo! Yeah, if you guys are looking for shoes, get the best bargains at Salem & Sons over there. I swear by the store because I bought my soccer boots from there once at $50 flat. DAMN CHEAP!

My spectacles is plastic lol, and it looks as if I'm going to army. And the frame, I think, is quite big. I really look damn different and it's good to look different for a while. Don't NPNT please.

This concludes my final blog post before the Vietnam trip. Please tag and read my other posts. If you are not interested, fine lah.